


In the Fog

by saltstreets



Category: The Terror (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, significant use of first names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23427484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/saltstreets/pseuds/saltstreets
Summary: “No one can see you now. You’re invisible.”
Relationships: Lt Edward Little/Sgt Solomon Tozer
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30
Collections: The Terror Bingo (2019)





	In the Fog

**Author's Note:**

> I have never once managed to get a time zone correct on the first try, but this is a questionably-valid entry for my Terror bingo square, 'Terror Camp Clear'.
> 
> Based on a conversation I had with [Frauke](http://www.archiveofourown.org/users/ascience) about Tozer’s post-Heather mindset and disillusionment, and how during the Tuunbaq attack (Tuunbattack? Is that anything? Bueller?) he might just be following his last known orders on autopilot. The glance he gives Hickey during the hanging scene is just one of the many, many ‘Is This A Red Flag?’ notifications Tozer receives before the final end, so I think he’s probably aware that something is Up but can only default to his current prime directive (aka Guns ‘n Go) when everything goes pear-shaped. He might just go with whoever’s voice sounds most appealing at the moment, and if Little had just a tad more personal sway over him…
> 
> Might expand this concept into a proper canon-divergent fic eventually, but have a snippet of speculation for now.

In the fog the camp seemed a labyrinth of unfamiliar forms, reaching jaggedly from the ground and turning Edward in every direction. The armoury. He had to find the armoury.

He tore around a corner, and caught sight of a familiar figure moving between the tents. “Tozer!”

Tozer skidded to a halt and turned, slowly.

“Lay down those arms,” Edward ordered, voice steady, and was gratified that Tozer did, letting the bundle of rifles clatter to the shale with a carelessness that was belied by the tight set of his broad shoulders. It might have just been the cold: Tozer was only in his shirt and trousers, having been stripped of his familiar red coat when he’d been consigned to the gallows. But Edward knew what tension looked like on Tozer. Or at least he thought he did. Their relationship- or whatever it was that they were doing- had long passed out of the realm of mere arrangement. Had moved beyond physical comfort alone. He had seen Tozer satisfied and sour and distraught in turns. He _knew_ him.

“Come with us.”

Edward stared at Tozer almost in disbelief. Come with- with Hickey? Did Tozer truly think that Edward could be so easily swayed?

But he had dropped the guns. That was what was important. He was standing openly, and he was talking rather than running.

 _Did_ he know Tozer? In the armoury, Edward had listened to Tozer despite the warning signs because he trusted the man, when he laid out the facts and nodded to Edward as though they had still been working towards the same goal. And an hour ago Edward had paced outside the tent where Tozer was being held awaiting execution, cursing himself for everything, wondering what Tozer had done or known or thought, and unable to get the image of Irving’s pale, mutilated corpse out of his head. The bodies in the snow. A small face, eyes closed and bullet wounds hidden in thick furs, as if the child might have only been sleeping. He had wanted Tozer dead. Now he wasn’t sure what he wanted.

“No one can see you now. You’re invisible.”

“Get on the ground,” Edward said, evenly.

“Edward,” said Tozer, and that did sting, that he was so familiar. That familiarity was one of the few comforts Edward had out here.

“Hickey didn’t get to say half of what he wanted to say, Edward. Crozier was going to lead that sledge party himself and leave. Quit the Navy. Quit all of us. I would have told you sooner, if I’d had the chance. He was going to abandon us. Abandon you. He was going to leave you a big losing hand. Isn’t that what we’ve been saying? Crozier’s been selfish. A selfish captain isn’t one you can trust. I know you. You’re just as unhappy as I, so come on.”

It was what they had been saying. In the worst of the captain’s steady descent, Tozer had been one of the people Edward had confided his doubts in. Someone he didn’t have to worry about seeming weak in front of, because Tozer had never accused him of anything. He could be Edward Little, uncertain and fretful, rather than first lieutenant of Her Majesty’s Ship _Terror._ He had come back from across the ice one night after making a miserable trip to _Erebus_ for whiskey and Tozer had packed him a pipe without being asked, Edward’s own hands too stiff with cold to do it himself. Smoking that pipe Edward had felt understood. Comforted. He had thought his fears safe with Tozer, and had expected the him to share in the relief when Crozier had turned the corner.

It seemed like a mistake now. The words that Tozer was saying were right, but his tone was one of quiet menace that made Edward want to recoil.

 _Come with us._ Edward wondered if Hickey had put Tozer up to that, or if he was asking for himself. He didn’t think he could shoot Tozer, but he also couldn’t let him leave.

He swallowed heavily and forced himself to take a step forward, and to let the barrel of his rifle drop slightly. _I know you._

Edward took a gamble. “Hickey can’t see you now either, Solomon.”

Tozer flinched. He flinched, and something in his expression changed, ever so slightly. The arrogant threat of his posture curved inwards. Edward lowered his gun further. _I want to be able to take orders I can trust,_ Tozer had whispered to him only a few days before, in the aftermath of one of their increasingly desperate fumbles, hidden in one of the tents in the half-darkness. _I want to know who I’m following._

It was a risk, but maybe. Just maybe. The past days had been difficult. But Tozer was still seeking Edward out.

He let the gun drop entirely. “Please,” said Edward, and really meant it.

Tozer’s eyes went wide. _“Watch out-”_

The crunch of shale, a sharp pain on the back of his head, and Edward knew no more.


End file.
